Breast-shield



No. 623,4l3. Patented Apr. l8, I899. E. MURRAY.

BREAST SHIELD.

(Applicatiou man Kay 5, 1898.;

(No Model.)

A 77'OHNEYS.

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'NITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

EBEUEZER MURRAY, OF DEADVOOD, SOUTH DAKOTA.

BREAST-SHIELD.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 623,413, dated April18, 1899.

Application filed May 5, 1898. Serial N0- 679,815. (No model.) I I Toall whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EBENEZER MURRAY, of Deadwood, in the county ofLawrence and State of South Dakota, have invented a new and ImprovedBreast-Shield, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

The object of my invention is to provide a breast-shield which willserve to keep the breasts warm and protect them against cold drafts,thereby insuring the wearer against caked breast-s, which is often theresult of sudden exposure to the air.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the breast-shieldthat it will be simple, economic, easily applied, and worn with comfort,the shield serving to prevent the breasts from sagging, enabling themilk-ducts to retain their proper position.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the breast shieldthat openings therein will be provided for the nipples, which openingswill be covered by removable or hinged caps, the said caps preventing aloss of milk and at the same time providing a convenient means of accessto a nipple without disturbing the shield proper.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indi catecorresponding parts in both figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the breast shield applied to theperson; and Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the breast-shield, drawn ona larger scale than shown in Fig. 1 and detached from the person.

The shield consists of two cup-shaped covers A and A, adapted to fitover the breasts and close to the body. These covers may be of anysuitable or approved material, a fabric or chamois being preferablyemployed, and each cover A and A may be made from a single piece, ifdesired, although usually in the construction of these covers they aremade up of a number of sections 10. Each breast-cover A and A isprovided with horizontal tabs at opposite sides said tabs beingdesignated as 11 and 12. Each breast-cover is also provided with acentral opening 13 of sufiicient size to fit around the nipple in aconvenient manner, and the opening 13 of each breast-cover is normallyclosed by a cap 14, having a hinged connection with the cover and heldover the opening it is designed to close by means of a button15,'secured to the breast-cover, the said button being adapted to passthrough a buttonhole in the cap; but other forms of fastening devicesfor the caps and the breast-covers may be employed, if desired.

The vertical hinge shown is particularly advantageous, since'even incase the cap should become detached accidentally from the fasteningdevice the cap will have practically no tendency to move and chafe thebreast.

A body-strap 16 is secured to the outer tabs 11 of the breast-covers,the said body-strap being adapted to pass beneath the arms and aroundthe back, and shoulder-straps 17 are secured to the back portion of thebody-strap and to each of the breast-covers, as is best shown in Fig. 2.The breast-covers are connected by means of lacings 1a or an equivalent,the lacin-g when employed being passed through suitable eyelets made inthe inner tabs 12.

The device is exceedingly simple. It is durable and it is economic, asstated, and will prove of considerable benefit to nursing mothers,especially those having loose pendent breasts, and the device may alsobeadvantageously employed forbuilding up the figure when the tissues ofthe breast are delicient. The device will also serve to protect suchclothing as would usually be brought di rectly in contact with thebreasts.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- A breast-shield, comprising two cup-shapedbreast-covers having diametrically opposite horizontal tabs in line withtheir centers, and central apertures for the passage of the nipples, acap hinged to each cover at the side of said aperture about a verticalaxis, a detachable connection between the inner or adjoining tabs of thebreastcovers, a body-strap connecting the outer tabs and extending essentially in the horizontal line of the centers of the breast-covers,and shoulder-straps connected with said body-band and with thebreast-covers.

EBENEZER MURRAY.

Witnesses:

NORMAN T. MAsoN, B. B. SHEPHERD.

